Last week I was sanding away with my Mirka Ceros when I ran out of 120-grit. What to do –almost done – just a little to go. I know – somewhere on a shelf in my storeroom, I have an old 505 sander. I bought this guy decades ago, and It’s been decades since I’ve plugged him in. Way back when, this, and my Speed-bloc sander were cutting edge. I fondly remember buying them. At the time, it was a big step up!
Old familiar muscle memory guided the way to load a half sheet on the pad. I was getting all nostalgic as I plugged my old 505 in, and pulled back the trigger.
BUT – as thick as the nostalgia was – the sudden dust cloud was that much thicker!
Back in the BAD good ole days – dust was seen as a nuisance, but we did not perceive it as a health hazard. It wasn’t that we didn’t care about safety and health – we did. There were a lot of things that we just accepted as they were – because we were simply unaware.
In 1970, when I 1st hired on as a woodworker – we always had a bag of rags from the Thrift store on hand – when the dust got oppressively dense – you would get a rag and wrap it around your head – then continue on. That was dust control circa 1970!
Don’t get me wrong. There were good – good ole days as well. I was just reminded last week though – we have come a long way when it comes to safety and health.